Michigan Technological University 3 articles published in JoVE Environment Evaluating the Impact of Hydraulic Fracturing on Streams using Microbial Molecular Signatures Jeremy R. Chen See1,2, Olivia Wright1, Lavinia V. Unverdorben1,2, Nathan Heibeck1, Stephen M. Techtmann3, Terry C. Hazen4,5, Regina Lamendella1,2 1Department of Biology, Juniata College, 2Wright Labs, LLC, 3Department of Biological Sciences, Michigan Technological University, 4Biosciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 5Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee Here, we present a protocol to investigate the impacts of hydraulic fracturing on nearby streams by analyzing their water and sediment microbial communities. Environment Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) Pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass Shishir P. S. Chundawat1, Ramendra K. Pal1, Chao Zhao1, Timothy Campbell2, Farzaneh Teymouri2, Josh Videto2, Chandra Nielson2, Bradley Wieferich3, Leonardo Sousa3, Bruce E. Dale3, Venkatesh Balan4, Sarvada Chipkar5, Jacob Aguado5, Emily Burke5, Rebecca G. Ong5 1Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers-State University of New Jersey, 2Michigan Biotechnology Institute (MBI), 3Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Michigan State University, 4Engineering Technology Department, Biotechnology Program, College of Technology, University of Houston, 5Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) is a thermochemical pretreatment technology that can convert lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., corn stover, rice straw, and sugarcane bagasse) into a highly digestible feedstock for both biofuels and animal feed applications. Here, we describe a laboratory-scale method for conducting AFEX pretreatment on lignocellulosic biomass. Engineering Development of a 3D Graphene Electrode Dielectrophoretic Device Hongyu Xie1, Radheshyam Tewari2, Hiroyuki Fukushima3, Jeffri Narendra3, Caryn Heldt1, Julia King1, Adrienne R. Minerick1 1Department of Chemical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 2Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michigan Technological University, 3XG Sciences, Inc. A microdevice with high throughput potential is used to demonstrate three-dimensional (3D) dielectrophoresis (DEP) with novel materials. Graphene nanoplatelet paper and double sided tape were alternately stacked; a 700 μm micro-well was drilled transverse to the layers. DEP behavior of polystyrene beads was demonstrated in the micro-well.
